


Magpies

by somnium_astrum



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Character Study, Gen, I Don't Even Know, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 02:50:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10676145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somnium_astrum/pseuds/somnium_astrum
Summary: Seven years of life's lessons for that one girl in every generation.





	Magpies

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a short little fic celebrating the 20th anniversary of the series.

_One for sorrow_

When she is sixteen she learns of her fate. The Job. Capitals required. She is the Slayer, he is her Watcher. Sometimes she wonders if she really exists. But this _is_ her life. You pick yourself up, brush yourself off until you die. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

In between _what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams_ (vampires, Nick. Gatsby’s problem was vampires) and if x2 - y2 = -12 and x + y = 6, find x and y (Show your work!), she masters aikido and three different blades. 

When she is sixteen, Buffy first learns of her own mortality. It won't be the last time.

 

_Two for mirth_

When she is seventeen, she learns the cost of love. A simple kiss for her heart. A moment of bliss for his soul.

In between _love always wakes the dragon_ (there you go again, Richie, pointing out the obvious) and gather your ingredients from the cabinet. Turn the burner on high (and suddenly flames everywhere). Stab the heart (it's there, next to his soul). His. Soul. Send him to Hell for One Hundred Years. Burn.

Burn it all.

When she is seventeen Buffy wonders if she is the monster. Sometimes she knows she is.

And it it's not okay, well, at least it's true.

 

_Three for a funeral_

When she is eighteen she learns that sometimes bad things are actually good things (blowing up your school to defeat your enemy) and sometimes good things turn into bad things (Faith. Her blood on a knife. Her blood on her hands. Blood. Blood everywhere.)

In between _every atom in your body came from a star that exploded_ and draw a Lewis dot diagram of sulfuric acid (johnny was a chemist son but Johnny is no more. What Johnny thought was H2O was H2So4), she discovers her strength isn't entirely mystical. Her family, her friends, on occasion her enemies give her the will to succeed.

This is important.

When she is eighteen, Buffy learns to say goodbye. ~~She learns to mean it.~~

 

_Four for a birth_

When she is nineteen everything begins to change. Again.

In between Freud and Pavlov and James (mothers and bells and children, oh my!) and Celine Dion loving roommates, she stumbles and attempts to find a balance between her Life and The Job.

When she is nineteen, Buffy learns that nothing is ever what it seems.

Maybe it’s better that way.

 

_Five for heaven_

When she is twenty she learns that everything ends. Everything and nothing. Even her. She gains a sister, loses her mother and dies. Again.

 

_Six for hell_

When she is twenty one, Buffy learns how to be alive again.

In between digging herself from her own grave (this could be heaven or this could be hell) and would you like fries with that? she re-learns to pick herself up. Brush herself off.

When she was twenty one, Buffy learns that she isn't a superhero. But she is extraordinary.

 

_Seven's the devil his own self_

__When she is twenty two, she has learnes to measure time in crossbow bolts. Stakes and swords. Three is a photograph on the bedside table. Thirteen and everybody's gone. (Read: Not Buried. Read: Not Forgotten.)_ _

__Nothing is ever forgotten. This is her secret._ _

__In between leading an army of barely trained girls and being betrayed she learns forgiveness. She learns there is strength in herself that is not quantifiable. She is the Slayer._ _

__And sometimes she's still not sure she exists. But this is her life._ _

__You pick yourself up, brush yourself off and die._ _

__Lather. Rinse. Repeat._ _


End file.
